The Republican Party’s Conservative Problem

Jonathan Bernstein wrote the following in today’s Washington Post, and it’s so good that I want to quote verbatim:

The sad part of all this [the defection of conservative intellectuals from the Republican party] is that it leaves the Republican Party in desperate need of smart, independent-minded conservatives. It’s important to remember: Even if those of us who believe that the GOP and the “conservative movement” have gone seriously off the rails are correct, it does not mean that conservative ideas or policy positions are necessarily wrong.

Even more so, it doesn’t mean that what Democrats and liberals are up to is necessarily correct. It does mean is that what Democrats and liberals are up to isn’t seriously challenged, because there’s no interest in seriously engaging policy or ideas within the conservative movement (and, perhaps, because many of those capable of it are gone).